http://media.hardwareanalysis.com/articles/small/10290.gif" alt="Burst Transfer Rate" border=0>
Based on the results from the DiamondMax Plus 60, the controller card actually reduced the burst speed of the drive by almost 3%. Assuming a similar effect on the DiamondMax D740X, we can assume that it's burst rate would be some 3% faster using an on-board ATA-133 controller, and thus we have our first extrapolation. This is by no means a completely scientific result - it's just meant to give a general idea.
The graph indicates that, in fact, ATA-133 does make a difference. The D740X, coupled with the ATA-133 controller, exhibited a burst rate almost 10 MB/s faster than using the ATA-100 controller. Some of you may be wondering why an ATA-133 controller is necessary to achieve that 10 MB/s gain, since both figures are still under the 100 MB/s theoretical limit of the ATA-100 standard. Remember, that's theoretical
. Nothing is 100% efficient. You're never going to get anything to burst at a full 100 MB/s on an ATA-100 bus.
As well, the D740X performs impressively in general, easily toppling the burst rates of the older DM Plus 60.